Infusing fluid into a body of a patient is a common practice for a number of medical procedures and medical treatments. The fluid can be a drug use for treatment, a medication for therapy, a contrasting fluid used for imaging, etc. With such medical procedures and treatments, a catheter is generally inserted into the vascular system of the patient and the fluid is introduced through the catheter and into the patient. In some applications, an access port implanted into the body of the patient is used as a fluid reservoir from which fluid is dispensed. With such applications, fluid can be introduced into the access port via a catheter and then dispensed from the access port throughout a desired portion of the patient.
Typically, the access port includes a housing containing a reservoir that is capped with a needle-penetrable septum. With the access port implanted into the patient, a needle is inserted through the skin of a patient and through the septum so that the needle tip is positioned within the reservoir located below the septum. A connector end of the needle can still remain outside of the body of the patient so that a catheter or cannula can be connected to the connector end of the needle to facilitate flow of the fluid through the needle, into the access port reservoir, and then throughout the patient's body. Generally, a Huber needle or a Huber needle assembly is used when infusing fluid into the patient through an implanted access port. A Huber needle assembly can be a device that enables safe and effective insertion and retraction of a needle from the access port while also facilitating a fluid connection of the needle connector end to a fluid source via a catheter or cannula.
With some applications, it may be desired to infuse the fluid at a specific volume and/or rate to generate a desired flux of fluid passing into the access port and/or out-from the access port. To achieve this, a power injection technique can be used, whereby the fluid is introduced at high pressure, e.g., at least 400 pounds per square inch (“psi”). However, operating at such high pressure can cause the needle connector end to disengage with the catheter or cannula, or even cause the needle to dislodge from the Huber needle assembly, thereby creating a break in fluid communication between the catheter and/or cannula carrying the fluid and the reservoir of the access port.
The present invention is directed toward overcoming one or more of the above-identified problems.